Mary Costello - Creative Edge
Consulting
Client Testimonials
“Thank
you, Mary, for teaching me to dream, and for inspiring me to keep the faith and
move forward.”
Judy Reed
Principal
Dane County Transition
Schools
The great news is that our OOS proposal to the Children's Trust ranked 8th out of 160 applications. Although the Children's Trust is facing budget cuts due to the economic climate in Florida, we received the identical funding level for August 2008 through July 2009 that we had been awarded for the 2007-2008 contract year. Many organizations that have historically received Trust funds suffered drastically reduced budgets. Some were not funded at all. In fact, the Trust only funded 80 of the 160 proposals. We were awarded $978,000 for the period August 1, 2008 to July 31, 2009.
We credit you with assisting us in presenting our case for continued funding in a climate of budget cuts. I appreciate your commitment to excellence and your heart of compassion toward individuals and families facing social service needs.
I would highly recommend you to anyone requiring your grants and program development services!"
“I recommend Mary
Costello without qualification to anyone who needs assistance in writing proposals
and advice on how to manage nonprofit organizations. In her work on
the Boys Project, she not only wrote a fantastic funding application, but
showed me how to write a proposal in far more attractive ways than I had ever
known how to do. She also gave me the most valuable advice on how to
make judgments about setting up nonprofit corporations.
Another virtue of
Ms. Costello is her immediate replies to any queries you send her. She
also goes beyond the call of duty to provide information on relevant grant
opportunities. She is generous with her time, does not insist on payment
for every piece of information, and is committed to the greater good that
we are trying to do in the Boys Project. I
have recommended her to other nonprofits, and they are thrilled with her work.”
Judith Kleinfeld, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Director, The Boys Project
University of Alaska-Fairbanks
“In
the time that we have been working together, I have found Mary Costello’s
experience, knowledge and personal insight to be invaluable. Mary is the person
who has kept me motivated and encouraged, and she has always made me feel
that I am not alone in my cause. She goes above and beyond what is required
of her to help her clients and is not your typical 9-5 person. She does what
is necessary to get the job done.
Mary
not only knows my organization and its cause and vision, but she has also taken
the time to get to know me. After all, a company is only as good as the people
who run it and Mary has done a great job in educating me. She has given me many tools to make my
organization, as well as me, grow in many ways.
Her passion for what
she does is obvious. The excellent results of her work attest to that fact.
Her personal attention to every detail allows her to discover all the possibilities
for our cause. I have and will continue to consult with her on every aspect
of my organization.
I hold my
relationship with Mary in the highest regard and respect, both personally and
professionally. You will never meet a person more committed to you and your
success.”
Executive Director
“I regularly
sub-contract with Mary on diverse, as well as complex, grant proposals. Her ability to easily grasp a grant concept
and ask knowledgeable questions to move forward to a workable draft is
excellent. I find her extremely
reliable, able to meet her deadlines and to provide a clear, concise and
professional product that not only meets the needs of the client, but exceeds
them.
Grant writing on
any level can be challenging, and requires someone that has the ability to
express completely what is given to them in a few thoughts. Mary has shown me through her work that she
truly has that talent.
I find Mary to be
an absolute delight to work with, and would highly recommend her to anyone that
is looking for a grant writer that can deliver a high quality, professional
product that can be funded.”
Barbara J. Hayden-Potts
LoneWolfe Enterprises
Professional Consultant to Non-profits
“For the hourly price investment, we get more than grants written; Mary gives us direction, efficiency, and relevance to a broad audience. Mary’s results are more than grants received. Where the message we would have created without Mary might have compelled a few people to give donations in the hundreds of dollars, Mary resonated our message to compel dozens of persons and corporations to give gifts in the thousands of dollars.”
"What I like about working with Mary is that the
process is invigorating. Not only does she write, she directs and leads. Today
we know more about our mission than we did when we first looked at her web
site. I knew the competition is great, and what we wanted was a competitive
edge. To get that, Mary showed us how to change our selves."
Tom Meyer
Acting Executive
Director
The Aaron Meyer
Foundation
“Since our first conversation, I knew that
you were the ideal person to set up my website. Your confidence set aside all
my questions and fears about going forward with this project. With the limited
amount of information that I had given you and your research, you did a
masterful job at pulling together a wonderful website for my company.
I have grown to depend on your creative
talents since meeting you to help me with my direct sale marketing letters and
I have been very successful with them. Last year alone, you helped me
land a one hundred thousand dollar contract with one of the largest
equipment rental companies in the USA! Your writing skills and techniques have
assisted in my company’s growth and I am forever grateful to find someone with
such talents. From my business plan
edits to my email marketing materials – you were my answer.
Even though you claim to specialize in
non-profit work, I found your talents to be equally effective in the private
sector. Without doubt, when in need for
writing services again, you will be the only call I make.”
Linda Villanueva
President
PNL Transport
“It is easy for me to give Mary my highest
recommendations, with no reservations of any kind. We presented Mary with a
very specific challenge under very tight time constraints, and she was able to
rise to the challenge in a most impressive and fully professional way. She
exceeded our expectations in the speed and depth of response, as well as in
both the quantity and quality of the specific results she was able to produce.
We were also impressed with the clarity with which she helped us know what we
could expect from her, and with the many ways she went the extra mile in
sharing insights and recommendations based on her extensive experience.
After the grants research phase, we hired
Mary to provide additional assistance by reviewing our written proposal prior
to submission. Again, she was able to respond with great speed and
professionalism. Her comments were focused, insightful, and invaluable. The
success we meet in our grants application process will always be very much a
reflection of her individualized attention and commitment to excellence.
We now think of Mary as our ongoing
consulting resource. I feel sure you will be happy with her work as well.”
Nick Martin
Executive Director
“It is without
reservation that I recommend Mary Costello to anyone seeking the services of a
grant writer or program development consultant.
As Vice-President
of a start-up non-profit organization, I had need of a capable and qualified
grant writer. Mary proved to be that and
more. I was initially impressed with
Mary because even though it was clear from her resume that she had many years
of experience and impressive credentials, she didn’t fall into the trap of
“overselling.” In other words, even
though a number of prospective grant writers assured me without hesitation that
they could secure funding on behalf of my organization, Mary was more
circumspect in her response, and I appreciated her honesty. I knew right away she wasn’t one of those
individuals who promise you the moon but never seem to deliver.
Once we began
working together, I can honestly say that I found Mary to be both a valuable
resource and a pleasure to work with.
She was responsive, enthusiastic, and completely professional. The wide range of skills and talents Mary
brought to the table provided many tangible benefits to my organization. In addition to grant writing, Mary proved to
be a skilled grant researcher. She was
able to identify and pass along an impressive list of possible funding
sources. Mary also provided us with
sound advice in areas ranging from program development to website design. Her contributions were both significant and
timely.
I would, without
hesitation, recommend Mary Costello to anyone who has the need of a skilled
professional to provide services relevant to grant writing or building an
organization.”
Steve Wallace
Vice-President
Daughter For The Day, Inc.